After a lot of walking, we finally reach the Abnegation sector. I finally feel like I can relax again. We're safe.

Tris is a trooper, stumbling along barefoot, looking like she might pass out any second. I keep my hand wrapped around hers, needing to feel her alive.

Peter walks a few feet behind us, and I don't pay him much attention.

Suddenly, I notice Uriah and Christina standing on the sidewalk further away from us.

"Tris?" Uriah calls out when he sees us. He drops his gun and starts to run toward Tris, Christina trailing behind.
I put my hand on his shoulder when he reaches us, to keep him from embracing Tris. From the way she looks, I can tell that she's not up for a conversation right now.

"She's been through a lot. She just needs to sleep", I say. "She'll be down the street- number thirty-seven. Come visit tomorrow."

Uriah hesitates for a second, before nodding. "Okay. Tomorrow."

Tris, Peter and I continue toward my old house, Tris and Christina exchanging a brief reunion as we pass.

Then we walk through the door into my father's house, and I force myself to shove down the emotions the sight of it dig up; I'll deal with them later.
Tris and Peter follow me into the kitchen, where we find Tori, Harrison and Evelyn.

Tris stops to lean against the wall as my mother approaches me, smiling and wrapping an arm around me. Her hand touches my face.
"I'm so glad you're back", she says. I give her a smile back.
Then turn back toward Tris, putting an arm around her waist, and guide her toward the stairs. We walk into my old bedroom, which still looks untouched.

"Marcus didn't go into this room after I left," I say, "I'm pretty sure. Because nothing was moved when I came back here."

I look down at Tris, and see her gazing at the blue sculpture standing on my dresser.

"My mother smuggled that to me when I was young", I tell her. "Told me to hide it. The day of the ceremony, I put it on my dresser before I left. So he would see it. A small act of defiance."

It felt good. That sculpture represented the best choice I ever made- and probably the first choice that I ever made completely for myself.

"Let's take care of your feet", I say.

"Okay."

When we enter the bathroom, Tris sits down on the edge of the bathtub, and I join her. I turn the tap on, plugging the drain to keep the water in the tub. The water washes over our feet, and it's immediately stained by blood from the cuts on Tris's feet. I crouch, taking one of her feet into my lap. I use a towel to clean the wounds on her feet, and she doesn't even so much as flinch. She doesn't react as I rub them with soap. I guess she's been through too much to be bothered by feet that should be stinging.

When I'm done, she takes the soap from me and covers her hands with it. Then she takes my hands in hers and rubs them against each other, washing away all the filth. I try to appreciate the moment as much as possible; her hands against mine, touching me again. She's not locked away in a room anymore, or worse, dead. She's here.

I reach for another towel, drying her hands and then mine.

"I don't… My family is all dead, or traitors; how can I…" The sorrow in her voice is obvious, and I pull her toward me as she starts to cry. I keep her there, close to me, until she seems to calm down again.

"I'll be your family now", I say gently.

"I love you", is all she says.

I've heard people say 'I love you' before. My mom used to say it before she disappeared.

But this is different. Hearing her say it… it means more than anything.
"Say it again", I ask.

"Tobias, I love you."

And that's all she needs to say. Those three simple words fill my body with warmth, with calmness, and suddenly, I want nothing more than to be close to her again.

I wrap my arms around her, and let my lips touch the skin right above her collarbone, by the tattoo. Then I move them up toward her cheek, and then finally, they meet hers.

"I love you too", I say.
She smiles- it's small, but it's there. I smile back.

"I'll get you something to wear", I say. I fetch a t-shirt from my room and leave her to get ready in the bathroom. Then I change out of my own wet clothes into a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt.
I sit down on my bed and just look out the window. The sun has just set, and I'm already tired. My thoughts and emotions about coming back here are a mess, but I bury them deep down inside me. It's just a house. It doesn't mean anything to me anymore. The memories will always be there, but I'm used to ignoring them. They can't hurt me.

The door opens and Tris walks inside. She climbs into the bed, wrapping the blanket around herself. I lie next to her and she rests her head against my chest. This is good. This is all I need, for now.

oooOOOooo

Tris is still asleep when I wake up. She looks so peaceful, finally resting, that I can't bring myself to wake her up.

I walk down the stairs, joining the crowd in the living room. There are factionless, Candor, Dauntless. Everyone is here, and everyone belongs here. It's a strange feeling. We've always been taught to stay divided into our factions, and to keep away from the factionless. We were separated by different values. But now, we all stand here as equals, as one. No one on the outside.

"Morning", Uriah says as he sees me. He's sitting on the couch next to Christina and Lynn. "Is Tris awake?"

I shake my head. "She'll be up soon, I'm sure."

"Tobias", Evelyn says. "Would you like something to eat?"

She gestures toward a bunch of opened tin cans.

"Hmm", I say, thinking about it. "I feel like scrambled eggs."

She smiles. "There are eggs in the kitchen."

I nod. I've always enjoyed eating scrambled eggs. I remember Evelyn used to make them all the time when I was little.
The smell of food attracts a couple of people. Christina and Uriah try it out, and while Uriah seems to like it, Christina spits it out almost immediately. I can't help but laugh at her.

"That's gross", she says. "Why would anyone eat that?"

I fill a can that used to contain peas with the scrambled eggs and move into the living room, finding a spot next to the coffee table. Then I just sit there, listening to people talk and joining in when I feel the need to. It's weird how comfortable I feel around these strangers. There's no pressure to be, well, anything. We can all just be ourselves. Maybe this isn't so bad after all. Maybe being factionless was never a fate worse than death, like I'd always thought of it.

Suddenly, the voices in the room ebb out. I turn, looking at the doorway. There stands Tris, Uriah, Christina and Lynn, although all eyes are on Tris. I remember that they all thought Jeanine had killed her, yet here she is, alive.

My mother clears her throat. "Everyone, this is Tris Prior. I believe you may have heard a lot about her yesterday."

A/N: My god, it's been like half a year since I updated this story! So sorry for the wait (if anyone's still waiting.) But I promised to finish this story and I will try to stay true to that. I'm very busy with school right now, but I had some free time so I decided to write some chapters. Do you still want me to finish this story? If you do, please tell me that and what you thought about this chapter in the reviews. You guys' support is all that keeps me going. Thanks for reading!